FOOTBALL – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said yesterday he would have preferred seven days to prepare for the FA Cup final like opponents Chelsea, but acknowledged the compressed schedule is the price of success in other domestic competitions.
With City also winning the League Cup this season, their schedule has been tight with Premier League and FA Cup games in the home stretch of the season as they chase a domestic treble.
City are two points behind Arsenal in the Premier League and Guardiola said their rushed preparation after beating Crystal Palace on Wednesday has been far from ideal ahead of today’s final at Wembley Stadium.
“I would prefer to have seven days like Chelsea had but when you reach the final of the Carabao Cup (League Cup) and you win one of these domestic trophies, then you have less days,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The schedule is what it is. Of course, it’s not ideal but we did it in the past and we’ll have to do it tomorrow. The big clubs, when you are in more difficult circumstances than the opponent, you do extra to try to do it.
“It’s not the perfect scenario to prepare for the final because we didn’t train absolutely anything since Crystal Palace. But I rely a lot on what we have to do and we’re going to try.”
City have reached their fourth straight FA Cup final but Guardiola said he hopes they can “do better than the last two times” and make their fans proud after losing to Manchester United in 2024 and Crystal Palace last year.
“The message (to the players) is how we have to move, run, play against Chelsea to beat them,” he said.
“It is the FA Cup final at Wembley with two prestigious clubs, with our fans that make an incredible effort to come down to London – which today is not cheap – and try to perform as good as possible to win.”
Wembley holds a special place in Guardiola’s heart, having won the Champions League title at the stadium with Barcelona while he has led City 24 times to the iconic arena.
“I’m so disappointed with English football for not making (renaming) a stand for Pep... So many times I’ve been there, so at least a lounge or a box,” he joked.
“Maybe I need to go 24 more times. It’s been a special place, definitely.”
Guardiola said they will make a late fitness call on midfielder Rodri while the rest of the squad is fit.
Meanwhile, Chelsea caretaker manager Calum McFarlane dismissed speculation regarding his permanent successor, insisting his sole focus remains on ending the club’s domestic trophy drought in today’s FA Cup final.
McFarlane’s side head to Wembley seeking to overturn a dismal run in domestic finals, having lost their last six appearances at the national stadium.
Chelsea have also failed to beat Pep Guardiola’s side in their last 13 meetings in all competitions.
Despite English media reports linking Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso and other high-profile candidates to the Stamford Bridge vacancy, McFarlane told reporters he was only interested in guiding Chelsea to victory at Wembley.
“There’s a lot of names linked with the job,” McFarlane said. “It’s not really my place to say who should get it, or who’s a good manager. My job is to prepare the team for Saturday and that’s all I’ll be focusing on.”
McFarlane received a boost in his squad availability with defenders Reece James and Levi Colwill both training fully this week following successful rehabilitation periods.
“Reece trained well this week, happy with him,” McFarlane said.
“It’s a similar story with Levi Colwill. We are hopeful they can finish the season in this form.”
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